DISQUE DOR 3

Designer’s Notes

The commission for this design came from the Swiss Ocean Racing Club and called for a lightish displacement, easily handled, ocean racing yacht for long passage races including the 1981-82 Whitbread Round the World Race. The yacht - DISQUE D'OR 3 - was skippered by Pierre Fehlmann, one of Switzerland's best known all-round yachtsmen, who had also competed in the previous Whitbread Round the World Race. The light displacement concept of this boat is not as extreme as we have used for Round the Buoys type racing yachts, so was not hit too hard by the DLF penalty introduced to the IOR Rule at the time of designing, while still having surfing and planing abilities far superior to more moderate displacement yachts. In a boat used for this style of racing, more displacement is required to carry the large quantities of stores to keep 10 men at sea for up to 40 days, and also to provide unquestionable structural integrity for racing in the southern latitudes. Deck layout and interior arrangement were planned solely for maximum efficiency on long passage races and produced an arrangement substantially different from a Round the Buoys racing machine. Pierre Fehlmann's experience in the previous Round the World race, and subsequent passage races (some single-handed) has been utilized to the full in developing this design. Construction is detailed in aluminum to give the reliability necessary for the boat's intended use. DISQUE D'OR 3 finished 4th overall in the 1981-82 Whitbread race.